A. H. Albertson, born in New Jersey on April 14, 1872, graduated from Columbia University (Ph. B. in architecture, 1895) and initially sought work as a draftsman with the firm of Clinton & Russell in New York. Albertson came to Seattle in 1907 as a representative of Howells & Stokes to help prepare a plan for the redevelopment of the downtown Metropolitan Tract. He later formed a separate partnership with Howells around 1917 and then an independent practice with Joseph W. Wilson and Paul D. Richardson, whom by 1924 were generally identified as Albertson's associates on all the firm's drawings and published works. The central branch of the Y.M.C.A. moved to its current site at 4th and Madison in 1907. In 1911 it acquired the Stander Building next door at 4th and Marion, doubling its residential capacity. A portion of that building was set aside as a group home for homeless boys, ages 12 to 16, and included new seven bedrooms and a large dining room. In 1930 these were both remodeled to create the current building. The Jacobean gables and hipped copper roof are an interesting contrast to the Romanesque character of the small, arched windows and the simple brick detailing.